Settling In
by Kathryn0505
Summary: 1986. Pam and Eric are having some trouble settling in to Shreveport and their new business. This will also answer the question of where they live in chapter 2!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story ended up nothing like I set out to make it. Originally meant to be Eric and Pam trying to find a house in Shreveport in 1986, it took on a life of its own. I realize that a lot of my stuff is kind of angsty but Hurt/Comfort is my favorite type of fanfiction! I will probably post a second chapter to this that is more about them house-hunting but I thought I'd go ahead and post this.**

TRUE BLOOD

It had been a few days since their video store had opened and Pam still was not speaking to him. He supposed he deserved it for getting them into this mess but it still bothered him when she gave him the cold shoulder. He would never admit it aloud, but he felt a little lonely when she froze him out.

They had been staying in the basement of the store for the last few days. In addition to being angry about their punishment, Pam was also pissed that he wouldn't let her put a coffin down there for her to sleep. There was nowhere to store them for when customers were present and it would look too strange to have a pair of caskets there. So, for the time being they were sleeping in blankets and pillows on the floor.

It was nearing dawn and so the two were going to ground for the day.

"Let me just lay down on my _nest_," Pam said snarkily. She gave him a glare as she lay down on her pile of blankets on the floor, watching him do the same on the other side of the room. She hadn't wanted to be anywhere near him lately, and so he had been forced to set his own pile of bedding in the far portion of the basement. It was less than ideal. There were lights glowing in his corner that he had not yet figured how to turn off and despite the fact that he did not really sleep but rather died, they still disrupted him.

He did not respond to her comment but he didn't need to because she wasn't finished.

"I can't see why we can't have coffins, Eric," she complained once more, fluffing her bedding like a dog might.

"Because there is nowhere to store them," he reiterated, summoning all the patience he had left in his body.

"We could put them in the storage room!"

"The day shift would see them and there is not enough space for two coffins in there," he explained.

"There's enough space for one! I don't give a fuck where you sleep."

"Pamela!" he snapped. "Go to bed."

"Don't you mean 'Go to your area of the floor'?"

He was about ready to strangle her but instead turned away so that he was facing away from her. He heard her huff once more before she was blissfully silent. Her irritation was justified, but she was pissing him off in the process.

He needed to come up with a solution before he staked her in her sleep.

TRUE BLOOD

The next night Pam said nothing to him as they went to ground for the day. He lay there silently before he decided to test the waters.

Getting up, he dragged some of his blankets and pillows over to her side of the room and lay down beside her, just a hair away from touching her.

"I'm still mad at you. Go away," she told him.

"You're about to forgive me," he told her, ignoring her eye roll.

"I doubt that."

"Just listen," he said. She finally turned on her side so that they lay face to face. "We're not gonna sleep in the basement forever."

"Just for the next hundred years till you're granted a pardon!" she interrupted.

"No," he shook his head. "Just until we find a house to buy."

"What?" she asked in confusion. "You want to buy a house?" she said the words slowly, like she thought he was stupid.

"What's wrong with that?" he asked a bit defensively.

"Why can't we just glamour someone out of their house? For that matter, why don't we just eat someone and move in?" When they were travelling that was exactly what they did but usually they did not stay for very long so it was never a problem. Eventually someone would notice if a neighbor went missing. Also, he felt like Pam would enjoy shopping for a house of her very own.

"We may be here for longer than normal," Eric told her. He didn't want to tell her it may very well be several years, if not decades. "So we should get a house of our own. You can pick out the perfect one, shop around instead of just picking someone to glamour. Just think about how much you would get to decorate a blank canvas," he appealed to her.

"You'd let me decorate?" she asked skeptically.

"Of course."

"Any way I wanted?" she clarified.

"Within reason." That earned him another eye roll but he could see that he had her. Shopping and decorating were her things, and this would be a fun project for her.

"Alright," she said. He kept staring at her. "What?"

"Are you going to speak to me now?"

"I am speaking to you right now."

"Pam!" he snapped. "I'm sorry about this, okay? But I'm trying to make it better. If you would prefer I could toss you out on your ass and leave you to fend for yourself."

It was exactly the wrong thing to say, he realized, as her face showed her surprise and then became a blank mask. He had momentarily forgotten that they had met when she was a prostitute and she had once told him that her parents had kicked her out, leading to her circumstances. He hadn't meant anything by his comment but it seemed it had taken her back to that time.

"Pam-," he went to apologize.

"Do what you need to, Eric," she said. She stood up, gathering her bedding in her arms and moving to the other side of the room as gracefully as she could. She was so pissed and hurt she didn't want to lie beside him a moment longer than necessary.

She wasn't ashamed of her past, by any means. She'd done what she'd needed to in order to survive, and in some ways she was fucking proud. But he had always treated her as though she was worth more and yet here she was, on the floor in fucking Louisiana. And now he gave her a half-assed apology and then threatened the one thing that she was terrified he might one day do. She relied on him for everything and she had been afraid for several years now that he might one day send her away or release her, and then what would she do? She had known for a while that progeny did not normally stay with their makers for very long, so how long would it be till he felt her training was over and it would be fine for her to go on her way?

Eric could feel the hurt rolling off of her in waves although he didn't understand why. Anxiety flowed through their bond and he felt worse, though he felt she had taken his comments too much to heart. Still, Pam was complicated and he didn't even pretend to understand half of the things that she thought or felt.

He left her alone for the remainder of the night, and watched as she eventually fell asleep for the day.

TRUE BLOOD

"Where are we going?" she finally asked. She hated surprises. She hated not knowing what was happening.

"You will see," Eric said, patience wearing thin. It had been difficult enough to get her into the car and now she would not stop with her questions.

"Eric, I hate this," she whined, fidgeting in her seat.

"We are going to see a house," he cracked. "It was going to be a surprise but you are too much of a fucking brat to be quiet and let me do something nice for you."

Pam was surprised, both at where they were going and his tone. He rarely snapped at her and when he did it made her feel like dirt.

"One you'd like to buy?" she asked tentatively.

"That is very much up to you," he told her. He turned onto a remote road and came up to a large house, more of a mansion. He had given the real estate agent some specifications and it seemed that this is what she had come up with.

"It's pretty," she said. Eric said nothing and the tension between them increased. Not being able to take it anymore, she got out of the car and noticed a petite brunette woman standing on the porch.

Pam heard Eric's door close and the woman came up to greet them.

"I'm Lilah," she said. "You must be Eric?"

"Yes," Eric told her. "This is my… fiancée, Pam," he introduced her. Pam felt a zing of pleasure go through her at the descriptor, though she was sure he said it because it was the most plausible scenario.

"It's nice to meet you both," she said. "It's late, so why don't we go ahead and go inside?"

She unlocked the front door and allowed them both to walk inside into the foyer.

"It has 6 bedrooms, 5 baths," Lilah said, flicking on the light. "6000 square feet."

"Wow," Pam gasped, taking in the entryway. A staircase off to the side spiraled up and led to the second floor. To her side were large windows, from floor to ceiling of the second level.

"That could be a problem," Pam whispered, indicating to Eric the giant windows. She frowned as he ignored her and continued on through the house.

If Lilah noticed the tension between them, she didn't comment. "There is a nice big living area," she said. "And then through here," she said as they began to follow her, "is a beautiful updated kitchen."

They continued on through the house, the only speaker being the real estate agent. It was a beautiful house, but Pam didn't think that she would be willing to live there. There were far too many large windows and skylights to be practical, and the bathrooms were tiny. She appreciated a good bath and would never get one in this house. Plus, there was absolutely no closet space.

"Thank you," Eric told the woman as they all exited the house for the night. "We will discuss it and get back to you."

On the way home she broached the subject with Eric. "It was a nice home. But the closets were the sizes of suitcases! And the windows were everywhere."

"I agree," was all he said, and Pam was about to burst. Despite the fact that she got annoyed at him all the time, it drove her crazy when he turned the tables and froze her out.

"I'm sorry I ruined your surprise!" Pam said as they entered their store.

"I tire of your attitude, Pam," he said. He could understand her frustration, but he'd had enough. She had not been speaking to him for weeks at this point, and he was beginning to wonder if he'd given her too much latitude. He always appreciated that she spoke her mind, even to him, but perhaps she was too accustomed to getting her own way. "I have taken care of you for 81 years and yet at the first misstep you become an ungrateful, selfish brat."

Pam was surprised by his words, not used to him ignoring her or criticizing her. Unfortunately for her, his ire only seemed to grow with each word he spoke.

"Maybe it would be better if you remained here in the basement while I moved out. Perhaps that would teach you a lesson in respect and gratitude!" he yelled.

Her mouth fell open, though no words came out. She felt tears begin to form in her eyes and looked down before he could see them. He stalked out of the room, not even bothering to wait for a response. He slammed the door to the basement behind him.

As soon as he was out of her presence she began to cry. She felt like a scolded child. Worse, she knew he was right. She'd been angry at him, but she'd taken it too far. He was her maker and she had done nothing but treat him with disgust. Not only that, it seemed as though her worst fears were coming true; maybe he would tire of her and send her away, leaving her with nothing and no one. She wasn't sure she could do it again, now knowing what it was like to have someone's love and companionship.

She felt ashamed and humbled, not having realized how much she was getting to him until he called her on it. She wished to go speak to him but knew that he was too angry at the moment. She was also afraid he would say or do something worse and did not wish to anger him further. Instead, she made her way down the dark hallway to an interior room that had no windows. It would be uncomfortable to lie on the floor, but she figured she deserved it.

TRUE BLOOD

Eric laid down though he knew there were still several hours till dawn. He had been harsh with Pam, he knew, but she had pushed too many of his buttons lately. She would be fine.

He waited for her to come down to bed, dawn being only an hour away. She would begin to feel its effects soon. Still, when she didn't come down he began to wonder what she was doing.

He debated with himself before deciding to go see where she was. He had slammed a door on her earlier, after all, and maybe she was hiding from him.

He looked in the main area before checking the back rooms. Sure enough he found her in one of the rooms, huddled pathetically on the floor. She had already fallen asleep and was using her cardigan as a pillow. The rest of her was pressing into the tile and he knew it couldn't be comfortable.

He felt a little bad when he saw the bloody paper towels beside her, knowing he was the reason behind them. While she had been over the top recently, she wasn't wrong in thinking that this was his fault. If he had only taken the Authority seriously or heeded her advice, she would not be in this situation suffering from his choices.

"Pam," he called, shaking her shoulder lightly. She startled awake, looking at him uncomprehendingly for a moment before eyeing him warily.

"Come down to sleep where it's more comfortable," he said. She assessed him silently before getting off the ground to follow him downstairs.

He had just laid down when he heard her voice from across the room.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He turned to face her and saw that she was staring at him, eyes wide and glistening.

"Come lay with me," he said and she obediently dragged her blankets and pillow over. He faced her and waited for her to speak.

"I'm sorry," she repeated. "I do appreciate everything you have done for me. I will accept whatever punishment you deem fit." She looked down at his chest, too ashamed to look into his eyes. She let out an unneeded breath of relief as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close so that their chests were nearly touching. His hand stroked between her shoulder blades and down her back in a path it had taken a hundred times before.

He contemplated her apology and her body language now. He could also feel how sincere she was being and knew that he had no desire to punish her.

"I take part of the blame," he said. "I am sorry that we must be here."

"Forgive me?" she asked anxiously.

He kissed her cheek in response. "Always."

He began to stroke her hair and could see the wheels turning. She had something on her mind, but he knew better than to press her.

"Has Godric released you?" she asked.

He certainly wasn't expecting that. "No," answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Why are you no longer with him?" she asked instead.

He wasn't sure where this was going but decided to answer her questions, deciding it was only fair considering how much he knew of the short time she'd been on the earth before he'd known her.

"I was, for several centuries," he explained. "But then I wished to venture out on my own." He neglected to mention that Godric had had a new companion in Nora. Though he had known he was always welcome, he'd also known Nora would benefit from having Godric's attention undivided. And then when she, too, had wished to leave to go make her own path in the Authority, Eric had become accustomed to being on his own. Until he met Pamela, that is.

"Do you enjoy being a maker?" she asked next.

"Where are all these questions coming from?" He pulled back to look more closely at her face. She was chewing on her lip, something she had a tendency to do when stressed or nervous.

"Do you?" she persisted. "I know you didn't want me, not at first, at least," she babbled in a very uncharacteristic way.

"I did not think I would," he admitted. "But I am glad I turned you."

Apparently that did not satisfy her, because she asked, "Would you like to make another vampire?"

"Not any time soon," he said. "With you still being so young and a pain in the ass."

"I am not that young," Pam disagreed and he noted with amusement that she did not dispute his second claim.

"Pam, I was 700 when I left Godric's side. You are the vampire equivalent of a teenager."

She sat up and his hand fell away. "When you make another vampire, what will happen to me?"

He finally realized why he had fallen into her game of twenty questions. His little Pam's insecurities were coming to light at last.

He tugged her down to his side once more.

"If I ever make another vampire, I will still want you at my side. Although I am sure you will make a vampire before I make another. You are handful enough." She thumped his chest good-naturedly and he caught her hand in his.

"I won't ever want to make another vampire. The first time was enough of a disaster," she said. He couldn't disagree with that. Her brief stint as a maker had been a surprise, to say the least, and had soon ended with her progeny's death.

"For so long as I am alive you will have my support," he reassured her. "And my love." They did not normally give voice to such emotions, but it was sometimes nice to hear the words spoken. Especially for Pam, who seemed particularly insecure and paranoid.

"Thank you," she finally said. She leaned in to give him the most chaste kiss in history though he could feel her gratitude and love for him flow through their bond.

"Are you satisfied now?" he asked, stroking her cheek.

"I am," she said. Suddenly the video store basement, even with the fluorescent lights signaling the available porn, did not seem so bad with Eric at her side.

"Go to sleep, then," he said, snuggling her close. "Tomorrow we have more houses to look at."

She found herself excited, this being the first time they had settled down in a location permanently. They had travelled a lot in her time as a vampire, staying no longer than a couple months at a time and always having their next destination in mind. It might be nice to have a real home with him.

Shaking the sentimental notions from her head, she turned her thoughts instead to walk in closets and large bathtubs with jets as she fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

It ended up being several more nights before they could take a look at another house. Once they resolved their issues it was decided that Pam would take the lead on the house hunting because she was the pickier of the two. There was really nothing he required of the house, but he knew Pam had quite a sizeable list of demands.

Therefore it had taken Lilah a few days to find some houses she thought they would like. Even with Pam's list of specifications, she seemed to be failing miserably.

"Oh my," Pam said as they stepped into the house. "This paint color is dreadful."

To Eric the paint was a fine tan kind of color but as Pam liked to point out, what the fuck did he know about design. She helped him pick out his clothing, after all.

"You could always repaint it," he suggested. To her raised brow he corrected, "You could always hire someone to repaint it."

She gave him a small smile and took in the entryway. It was crowded and small, the weird tan-olive walls not helping her feelings of claustrophobia.

"It's a little cramped," Lilah broke in. "But here we have a nice spacious kitchen," she indicated to a nearby room that revealed itself to be a quite beautiful kitchen with lovely dark wood cabinets and sleek countertops. It was a shame it would never be used, except to store Tru Blood. Lilah prattled on, "The countertops are brand new granite and the hardware on the cabinets was all recently replaced."

Pam glanced at it only briefly, knowing it wouldn't be a useful room. Instead she ignored the realtor as she babbled and continued walking into the living room which was separated by a pair of beautiful French doors. She almost took a header, though, when she failed to realize that the living room was sunken in.

She heard Eric snort behind her. "Smooth."

She waited until she had regained her balance before glaring at him.

"Careful," Lilah said annoyingly late. Pam's glare turned to her and the woman shifted a bit under her stare.

"So, um, down though there is one guest bedroom," Lilah continued, trying to brush off the unease she was feeling. Something about the woman scared the shit out of her.

They walked over to the entryway to the bedroom with a connecting bathroom. "It's great for any family who comes to visit who may be elderly- can't walk up the stairs, you know?" Pam and Eric exchanged a glance and he could see Pam losing her tenuous grip on her patience. "And there are four more bedrooms upstairs, plenty of space if you decide to have some little ones in the future!"

"Lilah, darling," Pam finally snapped. It didn't take much to annoy her, and the woman pointing out every feature of the 7000 square foot home was already getting old. "Be a dear and go away while we look around."

Lilah wasn't sure how to respond to that and looked to Eric in question.

"Fuck off," Pam told her, making a shooing motion with her hand.

"We'll look around," Eric rescued. "We will meet you outside."

She didn't need to be told again, glad to be away from them. For some reason they only wanted to look at houses that were in isolated places at night. The woman was incredibly rude, too, and she might have minded if not for the huge commission a sale of one of these million dollar homes would bring her.

"You need to learn to play with others," Eric told her teasingly.

"Just be glad I didn't eat her," Pam retorted. "Come on, let's go look upstairs."

They found the staircase in the back of the house, something Pam didn't really like. "The staircase should be part of the entryway," she told Eric although he didn't see why it mattered as long as it got you from the first floor to the second.

"This is the tiniest master bedroom of all time," she said. "Oh my god, look at this closet! Who is going to fit in that thing?" This time he could see her point; the closet was situated in a portion of the room where the ceiling angled down and therefore the door to the closet was only about 5 feet high.

He sat down while she continued her perusal of the room. "Oh, that's it, fuck this," Pam said, walking quickly back into the room from the bathroom. There was no tub at all in that room but was instead down the hall in a bathroom unconnected to any bedroom.

"You know you can remodel, don't you?" Eric asked.

"The layout is all wrong for that," she said. "Is it so hard to find a home that wasn't designed by blind men?"

Apparently it was because the next few homes all struck out as well. One of them she hadn't even been willing to go in because it was a Victorian style.

"Eric, I was living in England during the Victorian period," she had said. "I hated it then, why the fuck would I want a house that looks like it stepped out of my childhood?" That was it for that house.

They were talking over their options in the video store a few days later.

"We could build a home," Pam suggested. "I could make it exactly the way it should be."

"Do you know how long that would take?" Eric asked. "At least a year. Do you want to be in the basement all that time? Or a small apartment?"

Pam half-stomped her leg in frustration. "This is so irritating."

"I know," he soothed. "But the right house will come along."

TRUE BLOOD

"Alright," Lilah said. "I think this house is the one for you! It has everything you wanted." She unlocked the door and then waved them in. "Let me know."

Eric and Pam quickly looked around as they left the real estate agent outside. The tile was ugly and the chandelier looked like it might fall down any second.

"I think Lilah is officially an idiot," Eric commented. So far he didn't see how this house met their (Pam's) demands.

They continued throughout the bottom floor which included the kitchen, dining room, the living rooms, two full baths, and a guest bedroom in addition to an office space. There was also a spacious outdoor patio which looked out onto the huge swimming pool.

"Alright, this is pretty," Eric admitted. The pool was gorgeous and the lights outside really lit up the space and water.

"Yeah," was all Pam said. She'd meet the true death before she ever got in that water-filled torture chamber, but it might be nice to watch Eric swim in it. Naked.

They walked up the spiral staircase to the upper floor. The second floor had a large area that overlooked the first floor's living space, which Pam liked. The high ceilings made the rooms look that much bigger.

"This is gorgeous!" Pam said. The master suite was large and had a balcony that overlooked the pool and continued down the back of the house. "Oh," she said, disappointed, as they entered the bathroom. The room had only a shower and toilet, too cramped for all her cosmetics and hair products.

"What will you do with all your beauty junk?" Eric echoed her thoughts and she hid a smile.

A thought came to her mind that she hadn't considered before. "Will we share a room?" She wasn't sure what she wanted to hear him say. They hadn't been sexually involved in a while and she wasn't quite sure why they were drifting apart. Perhaps they just needed some space apart for a bit.

"Do you want to?" Eric asked, turning the question back around to her.

"I… don't know," she admitted. She couldn't explain it. She loved him and she would never want to leave him, but sometimes they spent too much time together. Surely it was natural to want a bit of space from someone you had spent almost every waking and dead moment with for eight decades.

"Why don't we have separate rooms? Then you can decorate yours in horrific pink and frill the place up and mine can maintain its dignity. And if we should miss each other," he looked at her pointedly, "we can have a sleepover in either of our rooms."

"I like that," Pam said. It solved all of their problems. Plus she did need tons of space for her clothes and other "frills" as he called them. "Will you…" she hesitated.

"What?" he asked, pushing her hair over her shoulder and running his hand along her collarbone.

"These houses have plenty of bedrooms," she explained. "Maybe we could have a third to share? Something that we both would like?"

He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her temple. "Sounds good."

"Will you help me decorate it?" she asked eagerly.

He groaned. The last thing he wanted was to pick out paint and bedding with her.

"Pleeeeease, Eric," she whined, suddenly excited by the idea. She loved her maker and she loved to decorate; what would be better than them decorating their room together?

He looked at her as she rocked on her heels, clutching her hands up as she nearly begged. This was the happiest she had been recently, and he knew that even though she wanted his participation, she really just wanted him to nod at the things that _she _chose, which was not too much torture. "Alright," he conceded.

She gave a little squeal and he smiled as she threw her arms around his shoulders. He hugged her back, glad to make her so happy, especially with so little effort on his part.

"You're the best," she sighed, happy they were once more getting along after the rough transition to video store ownership.

"So I've been told," he said, playfully swatting her ass as she pulled back from him.

"Let's go talk to Lilah," she said as she rushed down to the porch outside.

"We want it," Pam said and Lilah looked up surprised.

"We do?" Eric asked as the same time Lilah said, "You do?"

"Yes!" Pam gushed.

"I thought you wanted more closets," Eric questioned. Of all the houses they had seen, he thought this would be her least favorite. "And a bigger bathroom."

"I do! But this house is laid out perfectly! In the master I can knock down one of the walls and expand the bathroom. And the closet can be expanded into one of the bedrooms if we seal in the bedroom door and put a new door in there from the closet! Who needs nine bedrooms anyway?" He wasn't sure he was following, but she was on a roll. "The tile is terrible, of course, but it can be replaced. Oh, and I want crown molding put in!"

"Just how much are you planning on spending remodeling this place?"

"Oh, I don't know," Pam said. "Not more than… 100, maybe 200 thousand."

"200 thousand?" he asked in disbelief. "Are you planning on painting the walls with gold?"

"The bathrooms need to be redone, some walls need to be moved. Some dark hard wood floors would be lovely! But not in the bedrooms. I have a soft spot for white carpets. Although, it could get kind of messy with blood when we have guests over… They'll just have to watch where they're bleeding," she decided.

With that, Lilah knew for sure that something was seriously wrong with these people. Still, she was so close to being done with them, she couldn't run now, not with so much money at stake.

"It's a good thing you're so cute and I already love you," Eric said, rolling his eyes at her. He already knew they were going to end up with this house, though.

She knew it too because she cooed, "Thanks, Daddy," to which he glared at her.

Lilah watched the odd as fuck exchange and was startled when Eric finally addressed her. "Hmmm?" she asked, not having heard.

"We're interested. But we want a lower price. Can we get in touch with the sellers?"

"I'll see what I can do," she said. The woman told her goodbye in a pointed hint to get off their soon-to-be-porch and so Lilah got into her car as quickly as possible.

"Thank you, Eric," Pam told him seriously.

"You're welcome," he responded and kissed her temple as she came to wrap her arms around him.

As they got in their own car, Pam looked up at the huge mansion that was soon to be hers. Decorating was going to be a blast.


End file.
